life, leadership & walking with Jesus

Lies, Damned Lies & Statistics [Exec Pastor Blog]

Ok. So this is a curious title. It is a well known phrase that describes the persuasive power of numbers, especially to prove certain things. We are not about that but in our weekly meeting tomorrow we are talking numbers. They are not our primary driver, but they are important.

Nobody wants to think that we don’t care about the finances. We track the income and expenditure – you would expect that.

Yet counting people and tracking numbers when it comes to people can often offend people. I think that’s because we don’t understand their importance….

We count people because people count. It is a cliche statement but it doesn’t make it any less true.

We need to know if we are reaching people. The great commission is about making disciples, so the right and difficult question is ‘are we?’ Numbers can help us in that

We can feel like things are going well but the numbers rarely lie. We can always choose the right ‘period of time’ to make us look good. Neither are acceptable. Get the figures in front of you and be honest about what they tell you.

We don’t substitute faith for numbers. We are still a faith church. We are still trusting God for the future. We pray like it depends on God. Yet we still work hard and make sure that what we are putting our energy and resources towards is actually making a difference.

So today on my first day back I gathered those figures together ready for discussion in the morning. I can’t share the stats but I can say this…things are healthy.